Child Welfare and Youth Homelessness:The Fostering Connections Act

July 14, 2011 Marci McCoy-Roth, Child Trends

Based on brief by Kerry DeVooght, Megan Fletcher and Marci McCoy-Roth, Child Trends (forthcoming)

The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act (P.L. 110-351)

Sweeping federal reforms for children and families

Enacted October 7, 2008

Most significant federal reforms for abused and neglected children in more than a decade.

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About FosteringConnections.org

Mission: FosteringConnections.org provides timely & reliable tools and information on the Fostering Connections Act to ensure that state, tribal and local decision makers are well-informed about the new law and that they receive maximum support as they plan for and carry out its implementation.

Supported by: The Annie E Casey

Foundation Casey Family Programs Dave Thomas Foundation

for Adoption Duke Endowment Eckerd Family Foundation Jim Casey Youth

Opportunities Initiative Sierra Health Foundation Stuart Foundation Walter S. Johnson

Foundation

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What do we provide?

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Nonpartisan data and resources on each section of the bill

Individualized technical assistance Monitoring of implementation activity Opportunities to communicate with experts

and peers

Children and Youth in Foster Care in 2009

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424,000 children Median age in years: 9.7 Median months in care: 15.4 Race:

White: 40% Black: 30% Hispanic: 20%

254,000 children entered care 275,000 children exited care

Percentage of children & youth in foster care

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Year

Percent Aged 0-2

Percent Aged 3-12

Percent Aged 13-17

Percent Aged 18 and over

1998 15 52 29 4

1999 14 50 31 42000 15 49 32 42001 15 48 33 52002 15 46 34 52003 16 45 35 52004 17 43 35 52005 18 43 35 52006 19 42 35 42007 19 43 34 42008 19 42 34 42009 20 43 33 4

Percentage of children and youth in foster care by age AFCARS 1998 - 2009

Where do children in foster care live? FY09

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Foster home Group Home or Institution0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%84%

4%

54%

34%

47%

35%39%

25%

Ages 0-12 Ages 13-16 Ages 17-18 Ages 19-21

Percentage of Youth by Case Goals (FY09)

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Case Goal

% of children

aged 0-12

% of children

aged 13-16

% of children

aged 17-18

% of children

aged 19-21Reunification 55 46 31 9Live with other relative 3 6 6 1Adoption 33 16 6 2Long-term foster care 2 16 19 19Emancipation 0 7 32 64Guardianship 3 6 5 3Not yet established 5 4 2 1

Length of Stay in Care in Months (FY09)

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Note: Includes total months in foster care for the current episode and the episode immediately preceding

0-12 13-16 17-18 19-21 0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Males Females

Age

Av

era

ge

Mo

nth

s i

n C

are

Exits from Foster Care

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Ages 0-12 13-16 17-18 19-21 Total # % # % # % # % # %

Reunified 90,703 53.3 30,029 65.7 18,295 38.2 1,006 9.5 140,033 51.0

Adoption 49,332 29.0 5,048 11.1 1,230 2.6 71 0.7 55,681 20.3

Living with other relative(s)

15,449 9.1 3,610 7.9 2,117 4.4 236 2.2 21,412 7.8

Guardianship 12,645 7.4 4,406 9.6 1,934 4.0 305 2.9 19,290 7.0

Transfer to another agency

1,675 1.0 1,813 4.0 2,388 5.0 413 3.9 6,289 2.3

Death of child 292 0.2 59 0.1 60 0.1 6 0.1 417 0.2

Emancipation 127 0.1 194 0.4 20,615 43.0 8,288 78.4 29,224 10.7

Runaway 49 0.0 538 1.2 1,304 2.7 249 2.4 2,140 0.8

Not applicable 11 0.0 3 0.0 2 0.0 - 0.0 16 0.0

Total 170,283   45,700   47,945   10,574   274,502 100

Youth Aging out of Foster Care 1998-2009

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1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 -

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

17,310 18,964

20,172 19,039

20,358

22,432 23,121 24,407

26,517

29,730 29,516 29,471

Outcomes for Youth who Age Out

25 percent did not have a high school diploma or GED Fewer than 2 percent finished college compared with 23

percent of youth in the general population Over half of youth who aged out of foster care experienced

one or more episodes of homelessness, and nearly 30 percent were incarcerated at some point

Youth who aged out of foster care were less likely to be employed or to have health insurance than were their peers who had not been in foster care.

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State Variation

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State

Number of youth who aged out

Percent of youth who aged out

Virginia 1,015 30Maryland 818 26DC 167 24Illinois 1,232 21Delaware 103 19Maine 158 16Massachusetts 1,076 16Kentucky 864 16Connecticut 456 15Ohio 1,453 15

States with largest percent of total exits due to youth aging out (FY 2009)

Older Youth Provisions of FCA: Transition Plan

During the 90 day period before a youth leaves foster care at age 18, 19, 20 or 21, a transition plan must be developed. The plan must be individual to the young person and developed with the young person. Among the issues to be addressed are specific options on housing, health insurance, education, local opportunities for mentors, and workforce supports and employment services. FosterClub Transition Toolkit

10 Topic areas covered Housing

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Transition plans not the magic bullet

The success of the transition plan largely depends on the WHO - who is helping the youth develop the plan, who is helping the youth carry out the action items, who the youth has assisting them with developing resources, and - most applicable to the homelessness questions - who can the youth turn to when plans go wrong or in an emergency situation. In other words - it's not the plan itself that's the magic bullet, it's the people involved in the plan (and invested in the youth's life).

- Celeste Bodner, Executive Director, FosterClub

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Older Youth Provisions of FCA: Extend to 21

Provides an option to states to secure federal reimbursement for foster care, guardianship or adoption assistance to youth between ages 18 and 21, and extends eligibility for Medicaid and Chafee Act benefits to youth in foster care to age 21 as well 12 states and the District of Columbia have begun

implementing this option through approved IV-E plan amendments or by enacting legislation States with IV-E Plans: AL, IL, MD, MN, NE, NY States with Legislation: AK, CA, DE, DC, IL, ND, TN, TX, WA

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We invite your questions

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FosteringConnections.org is pleased to answer questions or help you find technical assistance related to implementation. Please email questions to info@fosteringconnections.org

Marci McCoy-Rothmmccoy-roth@childtrends.org 202.572.6122